Paris, December 1642

While England is torn apart by civil war, Cardinal Richelieu, the man who has ruled France in all but name for the last quarter of a century, slips quietly into death.

Erstwhile lawyer, Gideon Lennox, is now employed by Sir Philip Lord, a notorious mercenary commander with a mysterious past. When Lord is sent to Paris to present King Charles’ condolences to his brother-in-law, King Louis, Gideon is at his side.

However, Gideon and Lord have reasons of their own to be in Paris. They need to find the physician-surgeon Anders Jensen – and find him quickly. The life of the woman Lord loves depends upon it.

But Anders stands accused of the murder of Demoiselle Geneviève Tasse, maid and companion to Richelieu’s beloved niece, who was drugged with laudanum and raped even as Richelieu was on his death bed elsewhere in the same building.

With the requirements of diplomacy tying Lord’s hands, it falls to Gideon to uncover the killer and deliver Anders from trial and execution.

As he closes in on discovering the identity of the killer, Gideon finds he has poked a hornet’s nest. His own life may soon be forfeit.

A lethal chase through the streets of Paris ends with Gideon fighting for his life beneath the murky waters of the River Seine.